TOMS founder sells 50% to private equity firm
The founder of footwear brand TOMS has sold a 50% share to private equity firm Bain Capital to help the company grow and offer more products.
Blake Mycoskie founded the company – which donates a pair of shoes to a children in need for every pair sold – after a visit to Argentina in his late 20s.
It has donated more than 10 million pairs of new shoes and 200,000 pairs of glasses since 2006.
"This partnership will enable TOMS to grow faster and give to more people in more ways than we could otherwise," said Mr Mycoskie. "In eight short years, we've had incredible success, and now we need a strategic partner who shares our bold vision for the future and can help us realise it.
"While I believe TOMS has done a lot of good up to this point, there is so much more we can and should be doing. More importantly, I want TOMS to be relevant not only to the next generation, but the one after that, and far beyond."
Mycoskie plans to give away at least half of his profits from the transaction by establishing a fund that identifies and supports social entrepreneurship and other causes to which he and his wife, Heather, are deeply committed.
In keeping with the One for One promise, Bain Capital has committed to give back to the community through a new charitable endeavor, funded by Mycoskie and a matching investment from Bain Capital, which will be established to support social entrepreneurs around the world.
Sources told Reuters that Toms had a number of suitors after letting it be known it was open to investment, but Bain executives won the pitch after suggesting the extra capital is used to set up a fund to aid likeminded companies.
The deal reportedly values TOMS $625 million.
